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100th Indy 500 Race Review: Out of Gas Edition

American IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi stunned IRR and the rest of the racing world Sunday. The Californian – who we predicted would do well – won the most significant race in history after running out of gas, coasting for nearly the entire final lap. When asked on television, the twenty four year old rookie classily mentioned it being “a huge honor and privilege” to have won the 100th.

Photo from indycar.com

Juan Montoya‘s crash on his own in turn 2 was within IRR’s view at the track and a real highlight of the day. Sage Karam‘s wreck occurred right in front of us, while former 500 winner Buddy Lazier‘s problems went completely around the track. Disbelief summed up our reaction to Rossi’s victory, as both Ryan Hunter-Reay and our pick to win Josef Newgarden – who finished third – looked strong most of the day. Rossi’s team’s strategy was superb.

Photo from indystar.com

We met some wonderful race fans, the nice couple who were Ed Carpenter fans and of course Christy, perhaps the world’s funnest Marco fan. A special mention of the yellow shirts who arrived at the steamy track at 3 a.m. They’ve taken some good natured ribbing on this site, but they and the rest of the track workers were friendly, helpful and professional. The Speedway and surrounding area looked tremendous, with the new fencing, roofing, stands and especially the main entrance shiny and impressive. IMS looks like a world class track, finally.

Photo from sports.usatoday.com

Our crew had a good time, but our seats were in the sun and it sure was hot three laps up from the track with bleachers packed shoulder to shoulder with fans. Plus, our former seats at the top of Stand B – in the shade – provided better views, including of the pits. At least there are no steel support beams obstructing the views and video boards in the southwest vista. Oh, and the tradition of tossing empties into the ditch adjacent to the wall was great fun, if not entirely logical.